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Why didn’t we check first?

It’s expensive to sell a house

In fact, it’s normally about 3% of the property’s value. So let’s say, if a property is valued at $1 million it will cost the owner approximately $30,000 to sell that property.

But many agents and owners go through this process without knowing what they’re selling. By that I mean they don’t know enough about the property when they put it on the market.

Recently, we conducted an inspection for a buyer in the cooling off period. We found active termites at the property and some extensive damage. Because of this, the buyer pulled out of the sale and the agent now has an unsold property with major issues. The owner is also out of pocket up to $10,000, with the property itself less marketable – news travels fast!

Instead of tackling an issue that could have been completely preventable, the agent chose to take a risk that resulted in a major issue torpedoing the sale.

So, what could the owner/agent have done to manage this situation better?

Get the property inspected before putting it on the market!

There are so many advantages in doing so:

Getting things fixed:

One of the biggest advantages is that you can improve the condition of the property if you know there are things that can be fixed. This makes it a much better product to market.

2. Getting this reflected in the report:

Fixing does not mean covering issues up! It means fixing them to the satisfaction of the building inspector. And when that is done properly, the inspector can update his report to reflect the improved condition of the property. This gives the owner more confidence in marketing their property and will give buyers more confidence in the property itself.

3. Making the report available to buyers:

Another big advantage of inspecting your property before starting to market it is that the inspection report can then be available to buyers at the beginning of the campaign. This means buyers can carry out their checks faster and, usually, at a lower cost. However it’s very important that this process is done professionally. Find out more about that here.

What if the property has serious issues?

Some issues can’t be fixed easily – like rising damp or wall cracks – but it’s much better to know what you’re dealing with and have a strategy for managing those issues with buyers. For example, wall cracks could be checked by a structural engineer.

For the property above, the owner could have addressed the issue before marketing. He could have had the pest infestation eliminated by a pest controller and had the timber damage assessed and repaired by a qualified tradesperson. Then the inspector could have reattended the property to assess the property condition again.

Always remember – if your listing is in good condition, why wouldn’t you want buyers to know that?

If buyers can access better information about the property and get professional follow up support for a low fee, it’s likely to be one of the best ways to market a property.

If you’d like to find out more about the benefits of this approach, please click here.